Overview
- Gardaí are combing overgrown ground between Donabate and Portrane for a sixth day, deploying around 30 officers, a digger and a cadaver dog.
- The area now being searched was identified from investigative information, and a separate technical examination was conducted at the Gallery Apartments, the child’s last known residence.
- Detectives have not located the boy or found evidence he is alive and say he may have come to harm, with the cause not yet determined.
- Tusla notified gardaí of welfare concerns on August 29 after earlier engagement with the family, and the prior case was closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The Department of Children defended referring the case to the National Review Panel as independent, while the Ombudsman questioned its lack of statutory power, and Tusla is carrying out well-being checks on up to 38,000 pandemic-closed cases.